Nordic Capital Exits Falck

Private equity firm Nordic Capital has exited its 44% stake in Danish ambulance service group Falck to the Lundbeck Foundation, the owners of the Lego company and Falck management, Reuters reported. Previous plans for a Falck IPO have now been scrapped. Terms of the deal were not released. The Lundbeck Foundation, which controls Danish drugmaker Lundbeck, raised its stake in Falck to 58% from 36%. KIRKBI, a holding company of the Kristiansen family that owns the Danish toymaker Lego, becomes the second-biggest shareholder, with a 20 percent ownership, Reuters wrote.

(Reuters) – Private equity investor Nordic Capital has sold its nearly 44 percent stake in Danish ambulance service group Falck to the Lundbeck Foundation, the owners of the Lego company and Falck management, Falck said.

The transaction halts plans for an initial public offering of Falck stock this year, though Falck’s shareholders still expect to list the company “in some years’ time”, Falck said in a statement on Thursday.

The Lundbeck Foundation, which controls Danish drugmaker Lundbeck (LUN.CO), raised its stake in Falck to 58 percent from a 36 percent holding it bought in December 2010, Falck said. It did not disclose the value of the deal.

KIRKBI, a holding company of the Kristiansen family which owns the Danish toymaker Lego, becomes the second-biggest shareholder, with a 20 percent ownership stake, Falck said.

Falck’s executive management raised its stake to 10.3 percent from an earlier 9.7 percent.

“This transaction will end the deliberations about a potential Falck IPO in 2011,” Falck said. “Still, the shareholders see Falck as a listed company in some years’ time.”

Danish pension insurance group ATP’s Private Equity Partners unit and Swedish insurance company Folksam remain shareholders of the company, and Danish pension group PFA has also indicated it wants to be an owner, Falck said.

Falck made a pretax profit of 641 million Danish crowns ($127.5 million) in 2010 on revenues of 8.37 billion.

The shelving of its IPO plans follows Danish facilities management group ISS’s cancellation of its planned $2.8 billion IPO in March due to market volatility.

Nordic Capital invested in Falck in 2004 with a declared horizon of three to seven years, Falck said. (Editing by Will Waterman) ($1=5.026 Danish Crown)